1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wiring devices installed in a box mounted in a building wall and more particularly to a gang of straps which are selectively separated for mounting electrical wiring modules to one or more wall boxes in a building wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At the present time when it is desired to modify the wiring in an existing building, whether public, commercial or residential by adding a wiring module such as a switch, a receptacle, a telephone jack, etc., it is necessary to cut a hole in a wall of the building, install a box within the hole, attach the box to a stud and install the wiring module or modules into the box. In new construction, the box is attached to a stud of an open wall and, thereafter, the wall, which may be sheet rock having an opening for access to the box, is placed over the studs. The box is empty for receiving such wiring modules and provides pairs of mounting ears for mounting each strap of the wiring modules to the box.
The wall box selected is sized to accept all the wiring modules required at that location and the number of pairs of mounting ears on the box is equal to the number of straps needed for holding the wiring modules which the box can receive. Once a wiring module is connected, the strap for the wiring module is screwed to at least one pair of ears to mount the wiring module in and to the box. The process of connecting a wiring module to various conductors and then attaching the strap of the wiring module to the box is done for each wiring module located within the box. Thereafter, a wall plate is positioned over the wiring modules in the box. In many instances, a single box will contain two wiring modules positioned one above the other and, when wall boxes are ganged together, the wiring modules will also be positioned side by side. In installations where there are multiple wiring modules in multiple boxes positioned side by side, the wiring modules must be aligned with each other, must be positioned parallel to each other and must be spaced from each other by a distance dictated by the spacing between the openings in the cover plate before the wall plate can be installed. In addition, misalignment and positioning problems are caused by boxes that are skewed relative to the wall, by walls that are not flat, or by wiring modules that are not flat against the wall. A wall plate having suitable openings, normally a separate opening for the wiring modules of a single strap, is installed over the wiring modules after all of the wiring devices are finally positioned relative to each other.